Archive | April 30, 2014

It’s been a looooong time since I published a proper recipe post. I haven’t cooked as much I used to due to work, but now that I have quit my full time job as a Dilbert I reckon I could go back to more hardcore cooking! Yay!

# – Rachel Khoo’s Croque Madame Muffin.

Today I made Rachel Khoo’s version of croque madame, which are in muffin shape. Eversince I saw her made them on tv, I had wanted to do it so bad, but with work and the water rationing (by the way, it’s officially ending 1 May yahooooo!) I kept putting it off.

6 eggs
6 slices of bread
3 slices of ham/bacon (I used 3 slices of honey glazed hams which I cut into halves so they make 6)
A handful of grated gruyere or mature cheddar
Some butter

# – We begin by first making the bechamel sauce. Melt the one tablespoon of butter in a saucepan.

# – When the butter has melted, add one tablespoon of flour and stir with a wooden spoon.

# – When it’s all combined, slowly pour milk in while whisking.

# – It will get clumpy but don’t panic and continue whisking.

# – Eventually it will become a smooth sauce. At this point, add the dijon mustard.

# – Followed by ground nutmeg.

# – Of course, season with a pinch of salt.

# – As well as black pepper. Love our electronic grinder with light, a gift from Lance and Mel! Thank you! Whisk till combined, switch off flames and let it cool. Set aside.

# – Now to prep the bread slices. Cut off all the crusts.

# – Flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin.

# – Butter both sides of each bread.

# – Lay them in the muffin tin to form cups. Please make sure you have greased the tin with butter earlier.

# – Now put a slice of ham into each bread cup.

# – Then, crack an egg into each cup, making sure the yolk doesn’t break and the white does not spill out of the cup. This is because I found that too much of egg white that spilled over the cup would soak into the bread making it a bit soggy and hard to remove from the tin. So, the next time I do this, I will separate yolk from white first into two different bowls and then only pour the yolk in, followed by the white. This way I can control the amount of egg white I put into each bread cup.

# – Lastly, spoon a heaped tablespoon of bechamel sauce over into each cup…

# – Stick the muffin tray into a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius for 13 minutes for runny yolks, 15 minutes for soft yolks or 20 minutes for firm yolks. I went for 13 minutes of course. (p/s: In my pregnancy haze I had totally forgotten to grate cheese over the cups before sticking them into the oven FML. So please do so with either gruyere or mature cheddar!)

# – Voila! Croque Madame Muffins, done!

# – Oooh la la.

It was very delicious! The crispy bread with savoury ham and the rich, soft egg were music in my mouth. The bechamel sauce certainly brought the flavours together, even without cheese it was very creamy thanks to the milk and butter. Must try!